Day 6 of Hyderabad to Kanyakumari Trip: Drive to Bangalore
We visited the legendary
Murugan Idly shop, famous for their soft & spongy white Idly served with 3 different chutneys. (
Idly is a steam cooked Pancake made of Urad dal & rice flour). And one cant forget their Kaara podi (
Powder made of chilly, lentils & other spices) ground so nicely, that is as soft as talcum powder.
A bit of Idly dipped in the Kaara Podi + Oil Paste and slipped in to mouth.. mmmmMMM.. the idly so soft that breaks instantaneously & relieving the fresh aroma of spices used in kaara podi... Fascinating..!
This combo should be added to list of best inventions man kind ever made :) Remarkable taste..
Jayaram Bakery. Another best eatery in Madurai. . Freshly baked cakes & pastries, crispy snacks and lot more.. We tried Donut cakes, Fruit Roll, Cup Cake and Chicken Sandwich.
Just opposite to Madurai Railway station, there is the
Prema Vilas Lala Halwa Shop. (
Halwa is a sweet, gelly like dessert, made from milk of wheat). Hot Halwa wrapped and packed in dry leaves (
i guess its Banyan leaf) is available in 50gm, 100gm,250 gm denominations. The Halwa, so well made, melts in the tongue addicting us to have more and more.
Having visited all the best spots in Madurai, we started towards Bangalore by 12:30 PM
460 km journey ahead of us, with a lunch plan at Venus Briyani, Dindigul.
Filled in 22 Ltr of Petrol at IOC Bunk located near Madurai Corporation.
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| IOC Bunk, Located at Azhagar koil Road, Near Madurai Corporation |
Connected to NH7 via Simmakal -> Kochadai -> Melakkal Road.
31 km after joining the highway, the tollgate arrives. Rs 41 is the toll fee.
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| NH7, Madurai to Dindigul |
Had Lunch at
Venus Briyani @ Dindigul. Reached this restaurant by 2:00 pm, which is 51km from the Melakkal Road to NH7 junction.
Owing to its huge popularity, in serving authentic non vegetarian food, the hotel is very crowded. There are two halls of which one is air conditioned. Each of them could accommodate 40 people. But with the number of people visiting the place, especially on weekends and holiday, the space hardly suffice. Also the road ahead of the hotel is quite narrow, frequented with traffic jams. So in case driving by car, need to be prepared with a Plan B for car parking. Luckily we got a car parking that day. The hotel security assists in accommodating as much visitors vehicles possible.
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| Venu Briyani Hotel, Dindigul |
The next challenge was to get a seat for ourselves. We chose the Air conditioned hall, only because we had some space to stand there and the other hall dint have any. As it was a holiday, the hotel was so crowded.. bunches of people waiting for their turn to taste the Briyani.
After 45 minutes of 'hard to resist' & 'salivating :) :) ' waiting period, we got ourselves seated.
The Lunch Menu: Venus Mutton Briyani, Chicken Fry, Mutton Chops, Steamed Rice. Resumed the Journey at 3:35 pm. After 5km of drive, joined the NH7.
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| NH7, Madurai to Bangalore Road condition |
Except near Salem, NH7 was quite free with less dense traffic. There are 4 Toll booth between Dindigul and Thoppur.
First Toll booth, located 37 km from Dindigul, charges Rs 60. Second toll booth located 36 km from previous one charges Rs 32. After 67 km drive, third toll charges Rs 52. Fourth Toll, located after 38 km, charges Rs 66.
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| NH7, Madurai to Bangalore Road condition |
After 2km drive from the Toll gate, we reached A2B Restaurant, Thoppur (BP Ghar Dhaba). Fueled 19.7 ltr. Reached this place by 6:21 pm. This BP Ghar Dhaba got Restaurant, Play Area for Kids, Parking space, ATM, Spacious car parking. Had R & R for an hour and resumed the journey.
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| A2B Restaurant, BP Ghar Dhaba, Thoppur (NH7) |
From Thoppur to Bangalore, there are 2 Toll gates in NH7. First one is located 64 km after A2B restaurant, charges Rs 50. Second Toll Gate is at Hosur, located 56 km from the previous one, charges Rs 50. Since lot of people returning back to Bangalore from vacations, the Hosur toll was very crowded; bumper to bumper traffic, spent more than half an hour to cross the toll.
Topped up the fuel tank @ Hosur with 9 ltr Petrol, before stepping in to Bangalore. From Hosur towards Bangalore, the vehicle traffic had increased manifold. The rains added to inertia of the traffic making it hard to keep up speed. After a slow trail, reached the city 10pm.
Within Bangalore, to use Elevated express way, we had to pay Rs 35 as toll fee.
We reached the destination by 10:35 pm. A distance of 460 km covered in 7 hours considering the running time.
